KR100820833B1 - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator that maintains the freshness of food for a long time and suppresses the reduction of nutrients contained in the food and a food storage method using the same. The present invention, the refrigerator body; A storage room provided in the refrigerator body and storing various foods; And, according to the type of food stored in the storage compartment, provides a refrigerator comprising a irradiation device for irradiating the light in the visible light region by different combinations to the storage compartment.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the freshness of the food stored in the refrigerator can be maintained for a long time, and the reduction of the nutrients contained in the food can be suppressed.

Refrigerator, Irradiation Device, Light Emitting Diode (LED)

Description

Refrigerator {Refrigerator}

1 is a perspective view showing a conventional refrigerator;

2 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a refrigerator according to the present invention;

3 is a perspective view showing the vegetable chamber of FIG. 2;

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II of FIG. 3;

5 is a front view schematically showing a rear side of the vegetable chamber of FIG. 2;

6 is a plan view showing the selection device of FIG.

7 is a plan view illustrating a modification of FIG. 6;

8 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of a refrigerator according to the present invention;

9 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment of a refrigerator according to the present invention;

<Explanation of Signs of Major Parts of Drawings>

100: refrigerator body 200: vegetable room

210a, 210b, 210c: Storage compartments 230a, 230b, 230c: Irradiation device

231a, 231b, and 231c: light emitting element 231G: green light emitting diode

231W: White light emitting diode 231R: Red light emitting diode

231B: blue light emitting diodes 233a, 233b, and 233c: substrate

237a, 237b, 237c: Protective cover 250: Selector

270a, 270b, 270c: top panel

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator that improves a structure to maintain freshness for a long time and suppresses a decrease in nutrients contained in food.

Generally, a refrigerator includes a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment, and either side of the refrigerating compartment is separately provided with a vegetable compartment for adjusting humidity to store fresher vegetables and fruits (hereinafter collectively referred to as "vegetables"). .

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 1, a refrigerator equipped with a conventional vegetable room will be described.

FIG. 1 illustrates a top mount type refrigerator in which a freezer compartment is located at an upper portion and a refrigerator compartment is located at a lower portion of the freezer compartment among various types of refrigerators.

Factors affecting the freshness of vegetables are known as temperature, humidity, environmental gases, microorganisms, light, and the like. Since vegetables continue to breathe and transpire, it is essential to suppress breathing and transpiration in order to maintain the freshness of vegetables. Specifically, most vegetables except for some of the vegetables that cause the disturbance at low temperatures can be suppressed breathing at low temperatures, can be prevented from evaporating at high humidity.

For this reason, in order to keep vegetables fresh for a long time, a general household refrigerator is provided with a vegetable room which is a space for storing vegetables as an independent space from the refrigerator's refrigeration room. The vegetable chamber controls the vegetables to maintain an appropriate low temperature state and to maintain humidity by moisture that is evaporated from the vegetables. Therefore, such a vegetable room makes it possible to maintain freshness of vegetables for a long time.

On the other hand, while maintaining the freshness of vegetables for a long time by properly maintaining the temperature and humidity as described above, in recent years, methods for maintaining the freshness of vegetables by using light, which is another influence factor of freshness, have been proposed.

While strong light has a negative effect on promoting food color change and transpiration, relatively weak light is known to improve the freshness of vegetables. In addition, such weak light is known to inhibit the decomposition of chlorophyll (chlorophyll), especially in green leafy vegetables, and is known to be effective in the maintenance of vitamin C.

The refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 is as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-28363, and includes an irradiation device 23 for irradiating weak light to the vegetable chamber 20 provided below the refrigerator 10, in particular, green leafy vegetables. It is configured to prevent the concentration of chlorophyll of the lowering, and consequently to prevent the degradation of the leaf vegetable.

In particular, the refrigerator 10 operates the lighting lamp 29 for allowing a user to visually recognize an object inside the storage compartment 21 when the drawer type vegetable chamber is open, and the irradiation device when the drawer type vegetable chamber is closed. Operation (23) was configured to prevent the deterioration of the quality of green leafy vegetables by light as described above.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-159953 configures the irradiation apparatus 23 as a light emitting diode (LED) in the visible light region, thereby minimizing the heat generated by the irradiation apparatus 23, thereby reducing the temperature in the storage chamber 21. Is prevented from rising and can be driven with higher efficiency than other irradiation devices.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-49093 discloses a form in which a red light emitting diode having a wavelength of about 660 nm is applied to green leafy vegetables.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-65622 proposes an irradiation apparatus for dividing a vegetable compartment into a plurality of storage compartments and irradiating light of an appropriate wavelength according to the kind of vegetables. More specifically, the light emitting diode device was configured to be selected by combining the light emitting color according to the type of vegetables using the red, blue, green three-color light emitting diode device.

However, the vegetable room according to the prior art had the following problems.

First, the conventional irradiation device can be selected by combining the light emitting color of the three color light emitting diodes, but it is not clear what kind of foods are effective red, blue, and green light emitting diodes specifically, it is to maintain the freshness of the stored food or prevent chlorophyll reduction The effectiveness of the irradiation device was negligible in.

Second, although the conventional irradiation apparatus is provided with a selection means for selecting the emission color by the light emitting diode elements of three colors, as described above, the selection means for selecting the emission color because it does not know the emission color of the light specifically for any food This had no high effectiveness.

Even though the experiment shows that the light emission color of light is effective according to the type of food, it is very cumbersome for the user to select the emission color by remembering this information one by one, or to select the emission color of the irradiated light by searching for related information. There was this.

Third, it is not possible to determine which emission color to be irradiated for foods that have not been experimentally identified, and the user may not know whether the emission color selected by the user is suitable for the food to be stored, thereby giving confidence in the irradiation apparatus. There was no problem.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, the object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that can maintain the freshness and nutritional ingredients of food for a long time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator with improved user convenience.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, the refrigerator body; A storage room provided in the refrigerator body and storing various foods; And, according to the type of food stored in the storage compartment, provides a refrigerator comprising a irradiation device for irradiating the light in the visible light region by different combinations to the storage compartment.

The irradiation apparatus preferably comprises a light emitting diode (LED). In addition, it is more preferable that meat or vegetables are selectively stored in the storage chamber.

On the other hand, the irradiation device is preferably located on the outer rear of the storage chamber, provided on the refrigerator main body. And it is more preferable that the irradiation apparatus includes a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a line.

And the irradiation device includes a protective cover which prevents damage of the light emitting element; In order to scatter the light irradiated to the storage room, the surface of the protective cover is preferably corroded. In addition, the protective cover and the storage chamber is more preferably made of a material that transmits the light so that the light irradiated by the irradiation device reaches the food stored in the storage chamber.

In addition, it is preferable to include a selection device for selecting the type of food to be stored in the storage chamber, and to switch the combination of the light irradiated by the irradiation apparatus corresponding to the color of the selected food. When the vegetables are stored in the storage room, the irradiation device irradiates a combination of green and white light, and when the meat is stored in the storage room, the irradiation device preferably combines red and indigo light.

On the other hand, the refrigerator controls the temperature inside the storage compartment in accordance with the type of food stored in the storage chamber, the temperature control is preferably performed in conjunction with the operation of changing the combination of the light irradiated by the irradiation apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of this embodiment, the same name and the same reference numerals are used for the same configuration and additional description thereof will be omitted.

2 to 4, the basic configuration of a first embodiment of a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described.

This embodiment illustrates a side-by-side type refrigerator in which a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment are divided into right and left sides among various types of refrigerators. Accordingly, the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment are provided on the right and left sides of the refrigerator body, respectively, and the vegetable compartment 200 is provided below the refrigerator compartment.

In addition, the vegetable chamber 200 includes a plurality of storage chambers 210a, b, and c, irradiation devices 230a, b, and c, and a selection device 250.

The plurality of storage chambers 210a, b, and c are storage spaces for storing food, and are formed by a bottom surface and left and right side walls. In the present embodiment, the storage compartments 210a, b, and c are configured to be opened and closed in a sliding manner so that the user can easily put or take out food.

However, the opening and closing method of the storage compartments 210a, b, and c are not limited to the present exemplary embodiment, and the doors having a hinge structure may be opened and closed at the top of the storage compartments 210a, b, and c. It can be configured to be, and can be modified in various other forms.

The storage chambers 210a, b, and c are preferably designed to be sealed to prevent humidity from leaking out. By configuring the storage compartments 210a, b, and c in a sealed structure, humidity in the storage compartments 210a, b, and c may be maintained for a long time due to moisture evaporated from food.

On the other hand, the storage chamber (210a, b, c) is composed of a plurality of compartments. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 4, the vegetable chamber 200 is a form consisting of a total of three storage compartments (210a, b, c) partitioned in the vertical direction.

The irradiation apparatuses 230a, b, and c serve to irradiate light in a visible light region to each of the plurality of compartments 210a, b, and c which are divided into a plurality of compartments.

For reference, the visible light refers to light having a wavelength in the visible range of the human eye, and varies slightly depending on the human, but the wavelength range is generally 380 to 770 nm. In visible light, the change of properties according to the wavelength appears in each color, and the wavelength becomes shorter from red to purple. For example, in the case of monochromatic light, 700 to 610 nm is red, 610 to 590 nm is orange, 590 to 570 nm is yellow, 570 to 500 nm is green, 500 to 450 nm is blue, and 450 to 400 nm is purple. .

When irradiating light in the infrared region with a wavelength longer than 770 nm, the temperature in the storage chambers 210a, b, and c is raised, and the surface temperature of the food being stored is increased and the food surface is discolored to maintain the freshness of the food. Adversely affects. Therefore, it is preferable that the irradiation apparatus 230a, b, c irradiate light in the visible light region.

However, since the visible light region and the infrared region of the red series and the visible region and the ultraviolet region of the purple series are not precisely distinguished, the visible light region according to the present invention is a part of the infrared region and the ultraviolet region in the wavelength range adjacent to the visible region. Also includes.

There is no limitation on the kind of the light emitting elements 231a, b, and c, but it is preferable to include a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs). Since the light emitting diodes generate less heat and have relatively higher efficiency than other light emitting devices 231a, b, and c, the light emitting diodes are suitable for application to the vegetable chamber 200.

In this embodiment, since the light emitting devices 231a, b, and c are formed of light emitting diodes, the temperature generated by the light emitting devices 231a, b, and c is minimized by minimizing heat generated by the irradiation devices 230a, b, and c. Minimize, and can be driven at a lower power than the other irradiation apparatus (230a, b, c).

On the other hand, the irradiation device 230c for irradiating light to the storage compartment 210c located at the bottom of the storage compartment (210a, b, c) corresponding to the type of food stored in the storage compartment 210c, the storage compartment ( 210c) is configured to irradiate light in the visible light region by different combinations.

According to the experiments of the present inventors, the color effective for maintaining freshness and nutritional ingredients is determined according to the food. Specifically, the irradiation of a combination of green and white light for vegetables is effective for maintaining freshness and nutritional ingredients. The combination of indigo light was effective in maintaining freshness and nutrition.

With this in mind, in this embodiment, the first storage chamber 210a located at the top of the storage chambers 210a, b, and c, and the second storage chamber 210b located in the middle are generally spaces in which vegetables are stored. As a uniformly set to irradiate a combination of green and white light, the third storage room (210c) located at the bottom set to irradiate different combinations of light in the storage room according to the type of food stored.

Specifically, the third storage chamber (210c) is selectively stored meat or vegetables, and when the vegetables are stored in combination of light of green and white, when the meat is stored in combination of red and indigo light It was configured to. 4 illustrates a state in which vegetables are stored in the first storage chamber 210a and the second storage chamber 210b, and meat is stored in the third storage chamber 210c.

On the other hand, it is preferable that the third storage chamber 210c in which the vegetables and the meat are selectively stored controls the internal temperature corresponding to the type of food, with the operation of switching the combination of light irradiated by the irradiation device 230c. Do. For example, when storing vegetables, the temperature inside the third storage room 210c is set to about 3 ° C., and when the meat is stored, the temperature inside the third storage room 210c is set to about −2 ° C. When set to relatively low temperature storage.

On the other hand, the position of the irradiation apparatus (230a, b, c) is not limited. That is, it may be provided above or below the storage chambers 210a, b, and c. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 4, the irradiation apparatus (230a, b, c) is located on the outer rear upper portion of the storage compartment (210a, b, c), the shape provided in the refrigerator main body 100 It is illustrated.

In addition, the irradiation apparatuses 230a, b, and c are light emitting devices 231a, b, and c installed on the substrates 233a, b, and c, and the substrates 233a, b, and c, as shown in FIG. And a protective cover 237a, b, c for preventing moisture from penetrating the light emitting elements 231a, b, and c to prevent damage to the light emitting elements 231a, b, and c. The protective cover (237a, b, c) is preferably made of a material that transmits light, it is preferable to corrode the surface so that the irradiation angle of the light to be transmitted by scattering the transmitted light can be widened.

The selection device 250 selects the type of food stored in the third storage room and switches the light irradiated by the irradiation device in response to the color of the selected food. The detailed configuration of the selection device will be described later with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

On the other hand, although not shown, the vegetable chamber 200 preferably includes an opening and closing detection sensor for detecting whether the storage chamber (210a, b, c) opening and closing. In addition, it is preferable to configure whether the storage chambers 210a, b, c are opened or closed through the open / close detection sensor, and when the storage chamber is closed, the light is irradiated by the irradiation devices 230a, b, c.

Referring to Figure 5, the arrangement of the light emitting device in the irradiation apparatus will be described.

The location and arrangement of the light emitting devices 231a, b, and c may be implemented in various forms, but it is preferable to arrange the light emitting devices 231a, b, and c so that light is evenly applied to the food.

5 is an example of the position and arrangement of the light emitting devices 231a, b, and c, wherein the light emitting devices 231a, b, and c are positioned on the outer rear upper portion of the storage chambers 210a, b, and c in a horizontal direction. Is placed.

The first storage room 210a and the second storage room 210b are spaces in which vegetables are stored, and the irradiation apparatuses 230a and b for irradiating light are green light emitting diodes 231G and white light emitting diodes 231W suitable for vegetables. ) Are alternately arranged at regular intervals.

Meanwhile, in the third storage room 210c, vegetables and meat are selectively stored, together with the green light emitting diode 231G and the white light emitting diode 231W suitable for vegetables, the red light emitting diode 231R and indigo light emitting diode suitable for meat. 231B are sequentially arranged at regular intervals. As shown in FIG. 5, the green and white light emitting diodes 231G and 231W and the red and indigo light emitting diodes 231R and 231B are irradiated together according to the type of food, and thus are preferably disposed adjacent to each other.

And as shown in Figure 5 for the even irradiation of light, the light emitting element is formed in the shape of an oval, the long axis of the ellipse is preferably installed in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the light emitting elements.

Referring to Figures 6 and 7, the configuration of the selection device according to the present invention will be described.

In this embodiment, the selection device 250 is provided in front of the upper panel 270c of the third storage chamber 210c. 6 and 7 show the configuration of the selection device 250.

As shown in FIG. 6, the selection device 250 includes a first selection unit 251, a second selection unit 253, and a third selection unit 255, and corresponds to the type of food selected. It serves to switch the light irradiated by the irradiation device (230c).

The first selector 251 performs a function of selecting an operation of turning off the irradiating device, and is selected when the operation of the irradiating device is stopped.

The second selection unit 253 selects when the food stored in the storage room is vegetables. When the second selection unit 253 is selected, the combination of green and white light emitting diodes suitable for vegetables is irradiated to the third storage chamber 210c.

The third selector 255 selects when the food stored in the storage room is meat. When the third selector 255 is selected, the combination of red and indigo light emitting diodes suitable for meat is irradiated to the third storage chamber 210c.

On the other hand, the second selection unit 253 and the third selection unit 255 is a pattern of vegetables or meat is engraved on the button-shaped selection unit 253, 255, as shown in Figure 6 to increase the user's identification It is desirable to have.

The selection device 350 illustrated in FIG. 7 is a modification of the selection device 250 described above, and illustrates a form in which the selection device 350 is formed by the rotation of the selection lever 351.

The present invention is provided with the selection device (250, 350) as described above, the user selects whether the food is stored vegetables or meat through a button or a lever, and the light irradiated by the irradiation apparatus corresponding to the color of the selected food You can switch.

Referring to FIG. 8, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described.

The refrigerator according to the present embodiment is a refrigerator having a kimchi storage function, and includes a refrigerator compartment 410, an upper kimchi storage chamber 420, and a lower kimchi storage chamber 440.

The refrigerating compartment 410 is opened and closed by a door 417 rotatably installed in the refrigerator main body 400, and the upper and lower kimchi storage rooms 420 and 440 are opened and closed by the drawer type doors 427 and 447. And the refrigerating chamber 410 provides a space for storing kimchi or other vegetables or meat as needed.

In this embodiment, the irradiation device is applied to the refrigerating chamber 410 of the refrigerating chamber 410, the upper kimchi storage room 420, the lower kimchi storage room 440, the lowest position among the storage rooms (410a, b, c) of the refrigerating room Is applied to the storage chamber 410c. Therefore, vegetables and meat are selectively stored in the storage compartment 410c located at the lower portion thereof, and light suitable for the type of food to be stored is irradiated to maintain freshness and nutrition for a long time. Although the present embodiment exemplifies a form applied to the storage compartment 410c positioned below, it is also possible to apply to the entire storage compartments 410a, b, and c.

On the other hand, although not shown, as in the first embodiment described above, the light emitting diodes of green, white red and indigo blue are arranged in a row at the rear of the outer side of the storage chamber. Since the detailed configuration of the irradiation apparatus is the same as that of the first embodiment, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the present embodiment, the selection device 450 serves to switch the light irradiated by the irradiation device by selecting the type of food stored in the storage chamber 410c located at a lower portion of the storage chamber 410c. It is provided on the upper panel 470 located.

Since the configuration of the selection device 450 is the same as that of FIG. 6 of the first embodiment, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 9, a third embodiment of a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 9, the refrigerator according to the present embodiment is a top mount refrigerator having a freezing compartment 520 at the upper portion and a refrigerating chamber 540 at the lower portion. Each of the freezing compartment 520 and the refrigerating compartment 540 is opened and closed by a freezing compartment door 527 and a refrigerating compartment door 547 that are rotatably coupled to the refrigerator main body 500.

The refrigerating compartment 410 is opened and closed by a door 417 rotatably installed in the refrigerator main body 400, and the upper and lower kimchi storage rooms 420 and 440 are opened and closed by the drawer type doors 427 and 447. And the refrigerating chamber 410 provides a space for storing kimchi or other vegetables or meat as needed.

In this embodiment, the irradiation apparatus is applied to the vegetable chamber 500 provided in the lower part of the refrigerating chamber, and the irradiation apparatus is applied to the storage chamber 510b located on the right side among the left and right storage chambers 510a and b. Therefore, vegetables and meat are selectively stored in the storage compartment 510b on the right side, and light suitable for the type of food to be stored is irradiated to maintain freshness and nutrition for a long time.

In addition, on the upper panel 570b positioned above the storage compartment 510b on the right side of the upper panels 570a and b positioned above the storage compartments 510a and b, the selection device 550 as in the first embodiment described above is used. Is provided.

Specific configurations of the irradiation apparatus and the selection apparatus are the same as those of the first embodiment described above, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Referring to the operating principle of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

First, the user keeps vegetables and meat, and irradiates the stored food with light in the visible region. In this case, the user may select whether the type of food stored by the selection device as described above is vegetables or meat, and may irradiate light in the visible light region suitable for the type of food selected. Specifically, when the stored food is vegetables, the combination of green and white light is irradiated, and when the stored food is meat, the combination of red and indigo blue is irradiated.

And in connection with the switching operation of the irradiation device, the temperature is controlled in accordance with the type of food stored in the storage room.

Up to now, an example in which vegetables and meat are mainly stored in a storage room has been described, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described food, and various kinds of foods such as grains and alcohol can be applied.

Accordingly, those skilled in the art can make modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention.

The refrigerator according to the present invention having the above configuration has the following effects.

First, by irradiating light in the visible light region that is most suitable for the food according to the type of food, there is an advantage of maximizing the effect of maintaining the freshness of the food by the irradiation device and preventing the decrease in chlorophyll concentration.

Second, if the user does not directly select the light irradiated by the irradiation device, but selects the type of food, the user's convenience is improved by irradiating the food with the light of the optimal combination corresponding to the selected food type. There is an advantage.

Claims (11)

Refrigerator body; A storage room provided in the refrigerator body and storing various foods; And In response to the meat or vegetables stored in the storage room, including a irradiation apparatus for irradiating light in the visible light region by different combinations to the storage room, The irradiating apparatus is irradiated with a combination of green and white light when the vegetables are stored in the storage compartment, and irradiated with a combination of red and indigo light when the meat is stored in the storage compartment. The method of claim 1, The irradiation device, Refrigerator comprising a light emitting diode (LED). The method of claim 1, In the storage room, A refrigerator, characterized in that meat or vegetables are optionally stored. The method of claim 1, The irradiation device, Located in the outer rear of the storage compartment, characterized in that provided on the refrigerator body. The method of claim 1, The irradiation device, A refrigerator comprising a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a line. The method of claim 5, The irradiation device, A protective cover for preventing damage to the light emitting device; And a surface of the protective cover is corroded to scatter light irradiated to the storage compartment. The method of claim 6, The protective cover and the storage room, Refrigerator, characterized in that made of a material that transmits the light so that the light irradiated by the irradiation device reaches the food stored in the storage room. The method of claim 1, And a selection device for selecting a kind of food stored in the storage room and switching a combination of light irradiated by the irradiation device in response to a color of the selected food. delete delete The method of claim 1, The refrigerator controls the temperature inside the storage compartment in accordance with the type of food stored in the storage compartment, wherein the temperature control is characterized in that the connection is made in conjunction with the operation of changing the combination of the light irradiated by the irradiation apparatus.

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